Common questions relating to Chelsea leasehold conveyancing
There are only Seventy years unexpired on my flat in Chelsea. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What should I do?
If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to locate the landlord. On the whole a specialist may be useful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Chelsea.
Looking forward to exchange soon on a leasehold property in Chelsea. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they report fully on Monday. What should I be looking out for?
The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Chelsea should include some of the following:
- You should receive a copy of the lease
My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Chelsea. Conveyancing and Virgin Money mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing solicitor in Chelsea who previously acted has now retired.Any advice?
The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. There is no need to instruct a Chelsea conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.
I work for a long established estate agent office in Chelsea where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Chelsea conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.
Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.
Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Chelsea with the aim of expediting the sale process?
- A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Chelsea can be avoided where you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ solicitors.
- Some Chelsea leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
I am the proprietor of a ground-floor 1950’s flat in Chelsea. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount due for a lease extension?
Absolutely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Chelsea conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Chelsea flat is 150A Albert Palace Mansions Lurline Gardens in July 2013. The Tribunal determined that the premium payable for the new lease of the subject property was £42,069 This case related to 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 57.06 years.
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